By Janet Esposito
Many homeschools, charter schools, alternative schools, and even some public schools have been incorporating outdoor education into the school year. Small gardens, nature walks, and field trips to the beach are all wonderful ways to find learning opportunities outside the home that are both interesting and entertaining. But camping offers experiential learning that encourages those quality character traits that need to be nurtured, in addition to developing essential life skills. And homeschools allow parents the ability to tailor the curriculum to suit their unique child.
The first step is to plan, prepare, and plan again. Your top priority is to create a safe, nature-based environment to support and inspire learning. Before leaving, take a local first-aid course and become certified to perform CPR. Research water safety and, if at all possible, get lifeguard certification – enabling you to homeschool your own children on proper emergency procedures and rescue techniques. Many clinics, hospitals, community colleges, and Park and Recreation centers offer these courses several times throughout the year. Create age-appropriate checklists to keep the kids involved. Let them help pack, choose a campsite, and monitor safety using checklists created before you leave.
You are going to need extra supplies. This is not a test of survival skills, but a chance to look at learning through a different perspective. In addition to the customary camping supplies, you will need all the supplies required for your lessons. It is important to keep this in mind when planning activities and lessons for your camping curriculum. Another necessity is a camera to document the entire adventure. Buy multiple disposable cameras for every camper, unless each student has their own. Always keep a first aid kit, sunscreen, water, and snacks at-hand during any of your journeys beyond camp.
Arrive at the site early in the day, leaving plenty of time to make camp before it gets dark. Allow the kids to help choose the prime location for the tent, kitchen, eating area, reading area, and “classroom” by using a checklist. Look for flat areas that offer shade for your living quarters, and inspiring, accessible areas to discuss and review lessons. After setting up camp, hold an architecture exhibit: ask everyone to build a shelter using sticks and leaves, and then vote on the favorite. Offer homemade awards or delicious treats for the winner’s prize.
Building a fire is one of the most basic outdoor life skills required to survive. If you are teaching young children, review why fire is important to people and everyone should understand the types of wood and equipment needed to make a fire. Discuss fire safety in an age-appropriate way, allowing older kids to learn about building a fire in a ring or in the backwoods. Try making different structures for fires and using a variety of methods, such as flint and steel or a hand drill. Most importantly, double check to make sure all fires are extinguished properly when you are finished and review the importance of leaving an area the way you found it. Keep repeating this lesson throughout your many outdoor adventures to stress the importance. Students learn self-reliance and personal safety, as well as responsibility, along with learning how to keep warm in the woods.
Boating is one of the many activities that teach campers while encouraging physical activity and having fun. Students can learn the parts of a boat, including age-appropriate vocabulary, and basic paddling skills. Set up races to practice new skills or add some tennis balls to create challenging games. Try racing backwards or attempt a game of water polo using the balls. Older kids can move on to learning about what to do when a boat capsizes and practice water rescues. Adult supervision is definitely required for these activities, especially adults with lifeguard certification. Make sure you review all safety precautions and emergency procedures prior to the activity, so everyone understands the plan for action. In addition to basic boating skills, homeschoolers learn about teamwork, communication, and the importance of helping others.
Try combining “traditional” subjects with outdoor activities. Your science lesson can involve identifying and tracking an animal. You can bring appropriate field guides to help identify wild animals, and teach your students how to determine the size of the animal. Make plaster casts of the footprints and record data in your field log. Or create an art lesson from a nature walk. Make a basic color wheel for reference and then create a new one using small objects found on your nature walk. Collect maps of the area for different perspectives on geography and history. You can use them for a lesson on getting “lost” in the woods, or as a springboard for a lesson on the historical significance of the area.
Use this occasion to remind yourself and your homeschoolers that learning is fun. Bring musical instruments and put on a concert for the squirrels. Or try offering campfire music lessons that incorporate sing-alongs. The kids will barely notice they’re in music class. Create your own twists on camping traditions and use every opportunity for learning that is presented. Try adding bananas and strawberries to your s’mores and while everyone gets sticky, enjoy a game of Round Robbin. It helps to have a couple of prompts prepared, but just begin by telling a wildly fantastic story. You can stop at the end of a “chapter” or create a “cliff-hanger”, then the next person adds on to it, and the next person follows, and so on. It is a wonderful vocabulary-building exercise and can be an introduction into a lesson on creative writing for older students.
Be sure to set aside time for reflection and journal writing every day. On the last day, encourage everyone to discuss their favorite parts about the experience, and then share something they learned and how it can be applied to their everyday life. Discuss the importance of good citizenship, self-reliance, and the responsibility of being stewards of our environment. Collect all of the cameras and develop the pictures when you return home. Develop a follow-up lesson that incorporates some of what they have learned to create a project or poem. Try incorporating artists and authors that focus on nature, such as Ansel Adams or the great poet of haikus, Natsume Soseki. When you have finished, create memory books using all of the pictures, artwork, poetry, nature keepsakes, and journal entries.
